Dear NaNovel

Dear NaNovel,

I sit here now, on the eve before NaNoWriMo.  The countdown on my blog states a mere 8 hours until midnight.  Even though I have Halloween plans, and projects galore, I cannot get you off of my mind.  It is because of this that I write you now.

For months now we have grown close.  First just a tiny speck of a thought in my mind, you grew.  Fueled by comments from friends, memories, and news, I watched with delight as you developed more each day into an almost respectable plot.  I would sit at the computer, fingers twitching to write you down.  Then the rules of NaNoWriMo would resound in my mind and I would resign to simply jotting the ideas of you into my little red book. 

My little red book that I got just for you.

Some friends have said that I am obsessed.  Some seem simply confused as to why I sit on pins and needles.  A small handful cheer me on.  And I have come to the realization that I do not care.  This is not for any of them.  This is for me. 

I have been to my regions Kick-Off party.  I relished in meeting the plots of the other daring writers that live around me.  Some truly peaked my reader interest.  But then my mind would trail back to you, and I would miss you. 

I cannot wait for these last few hours to pass.  Then, finally, with joy in my heart, I will be allowed by the WriMo Gods to create you.  I still have plot gaps.  I still lack character development, a climax, and most everything else.  But I have you.  And starting in just these few short hours, you will begin the finish of your growth from a simple thought to a 50,000 word novel.

We may have hard times.  No, I know we will.  I will hate you at times.  And you will not talk to me at other times.  I am hoping these times do not come too often.  But I am prepared, with amazing writing buddies, my notebook, and an unknown plot ninja. 

We will sprint, we will war, we write through the night.  And, my beloved NaNovel, we will come out victorious come November 30th. 

I long for the day to hold the first unedited draft of you in my carpal-tundrum doomed hands.  I long for the day that I will rejoice with the many other WriMos out there as we prove, to the world and to ourselves, that writing is still alive and well.

NaNovel, I love you.  A love only a crazy writer who has committed to writing a book in 30 days can truly feel.  I hope us the best.  Please be nice.

Until midnight,
Jenni